breathe the hellfire
by Lady Coyne
Summary: she's never felt so vulnerable. in more ways than one. /rachel


(A/N: I can't help but notice that a bunch of people keep commenting on my stories saying that I must have issues with spelling because I don't use capitals for these one-shot stories, yadayadayada. This is a style of writing. If you need proof that I'm actually a very grammatical person and this is just a free-flow, fun-to-write-in kind of style, then check out my story Barely A Whisper. Please stop the comments about this type of writing; if you don't like it, then don't read it.)

.-.

her fingernails are so dirty, her hands so rough, her stance so firm. there's blood on her clothes and in her hair and everything she's wearing is ripped and scuffed and battered and broken.

rachel trails fingers lightly around the bruises and lifts quinn's head up. she knows that if they're going to get through this, it has to be together.

she meets quinn's hazel eyes, discerning how lost they look and how they seem to radiate hurt.

she loses her resolve and looks down for a second, noting their bare feet and flinches when she realizes she looks as bad, if not worse, than quinn does.

tightening her jaw, rachel glances back up and wipes a tear out of the corner of quinn's eyes.

"we have to be strong," she says, trying to make herself believe it.

because they fucking do.

.-.

as her hands retie the bandage onto quinn's arm, she takes a step back and really looks at her.

honey blonde hair smelling of faded summers, hazel eyes clouded over with distrust, and a cute little cut curving around her chin.

she doesn't know she's laughing until quinn suddenly is, too, and onethingleadstoanotherand-

lips are pressing against hers, gentle and warm, and rachel is surprised by how much she needs this.

and judging by the green flecks in her eyes, quinn does, too.

.-.

rachel fingers the gun, ignoring that it goes against everything she stands for.

she looks quickly over her shoulder and runs across the dying grass, heart stuck in her throat.

she presses the trigger just as a swoosh of blonde tackles her to the ground and she's suddenly fighting to breathe.

"move. i have to go." she pushes up against quinn's chest and struggles to her feet.

"not without me, you're not." a soft /not rough anymore/ hand entangles in hers and while rachel knows it will only slow down their running, she can't help but allow a smile to lift her lips.

quinn's eyes blink renewed courage and rachel's heart beats faster and faster as they rush toward the enemy, chains loose and open.

she's never felt so vulnerable.

in more ways than one.

.-.

blood fills the void between them, lightly pooling between their feet and urging them together in some sick, twisted way.

rachel can barely look at quinn /not counting from the side of her right eye because that just doesn't count/ and she shifts restlessly in the bonds which are once more cuffing her to the wall.

she glares up at the ceiling and feels the knife dig further into her side as their mocking captors torture them.

but at least they're together when they die, and as morbid as that sounds, it is, so rachel pushes her limits of pain and turns her head to look at quinn one last time.

she isn't even surprised to see that quinn is doing the same, looking at her as she grits her teeth, trying to stretch a hand over to her.

rachel tries to take it but her hand is slapped away and suddenly all she can see is just hot, white pain.

her eyes roll back into her head and she feels air collapse in her lungs.

.-.

her chains are suddenly undone and she's flying into the air, wind flushing her face.

dead, a booming voice says, _dead_.

rachel feels herself shrink back and she's not in the air anymore but she's on the ground and it's really cold and she's trying not to panic and-

a hand taps her shoulder, causing her to turn around.

quinn's standing there, looking shy and biting her lip, asking if she can "have this dance".

and she says yes even though she's really confused and feels a sense of deja vu and-

gunshots ring out and all the people at the prom scream and start panicking and rachel feels a lump get stuck in her throat.

_we only came for you_, she hears in her ear, _and for her_.

she holds quinn's hand tightly as they're dragged at gunpoint to a waiting car.

and she thinks to herself, _we're only human_.

she knows that all too well.

.-.


End file.
